Nuku Hiva, the largest of the Marquesas Islands, was home to the great Polynesian navigators 2,000 years ago who later navigated throughout the Pacific including Tahiti, Hawaii and New Zealand.
The French navigator Marchand documented the first European visit in 1791. Captain Porter of the USS Essex claimed the island in 1813 after raiding British whalers during the War of 1812. They even built a fort and unfortunately took sides in local tribal wars, before evacuating the island less than a year later. The US Congress never ratified the Captain's claim.
Nuku Hiva is rugged, windy, and volcanic island with distinct dry and wet sides. There is a beautiful Catholic Church on the shore. A nearby island is where Paul Gauguin finally ended up after leaving Tahiti and never returning to France.
